


wait for me

by throughout



Series: Tumblr Prompts [8]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Chronic Pain, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Injured Clary Fray, Light Angst, soft girlfriends being soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/throughout/pseuds/throughout
Summary: The one where Clary comes home late after a hunt.





	wait for me

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by an anonymous prompt: Hey, do you take prompts? If yes, would you do some soft/or angsty, or soft AND angsty Claia? Like Maia waiting for Clary to come home after a hunt and she’s late or something
> 
> This is my first time writing Claia, and I hope I did them and the prompt justice!
> 
> find me on tumblr [goldenalec](http://goldenalec.tumblr.com/), or [send me prompts](http://aleclightbaene.tumblr.com/ask) <3

Three hours.

Maia taps her phone screen once, twice, and a few more times, but nothing changes. The blankness of the screen doesn’t change. No ring, no vibration to signal the arrival of a text message. It’s been three hours, and now, it’s starting to feel like the silence is slowly closing in on her.

Clary had been called in on an emergency hunt after a large nest of Ravener demons were found wreaking havoc in SoHo. She’d groaned playfully as the phone call came in from Isabelle, before kissing Maia and heading out, promising that she’d only be gone an hour or so, and that they would have plenty of time to continue their movie night when she got back.

It isn’t uncommon for Shadowhunter missions to run overtime. Something new always pops up, another fire that needs putting out, another burst of demonic activity spurred by the one before. It’s something Maia had grown accustomed to, ever since she found her life and her heart intertwined with Clary’s. It hadn’t mattered as much initially.

And then Maia’s worst nightmare had come true.

It scares her, how quickly images of Clary’s body, battered and bruised, and her face, pale and unmoving as the doctors in the Institute’s infirmary worked around the clock to save her come to the front of her mind. Isabelle’s voice, trembling, stammering about Clary being overpowered during their mission by three rogue ex-Circle members. Then, the feeling of Alec’s arms around her, holding her back as she kicked and screamed and tried with all her might to get to Clary as Magnus stood over her, magic flowing in never-ending streams from his fingers, his face hardened in concentration as he did what the doctors couldn’t do to save her life.

 _It’ll be okay. She’ll be okay,_ Alec had whispered, over and over again. Words that Maia held onto like they were a lifeline as the colour slowly returned to Clary’s face.

It took months for Clary to heal from the injuries she sustained that night. Despite Magnus’ best efforts, her shoulder never fully healed. It became an injury she would have to live with, along with the memories that tortured her at times, especially when darkness fell.

Nights of Clary waking up screaming and crying, of Maia holding her with all her might as her sobs evened out, slowly but surely.

_Three hours._

Maia pulls the blanket tighter around herself, but nothing she does seems to dull the chill that’s slowly starting to take over. Clary would have called. Or perhaps she just might not have gotten to her phone. Perhaps she’s too busy trying to finish the hunt. There’s no reason for Maia to feel the panic that’s festering inside of her. The deafening silence coming from her phone doesn’t mean that she –

The sound of the front door clicking open echoes through the dark, silent apartment. Then, the shuffling of boots, and the clink of a charm bracelet that Maia distinctly remembers as the one she’d given to Clary for their anniversary last year. That’s all it takes for Maia to fly out of her cocoon of blankets on the sofa and head to the front door.

Relief floods every vein in Maia’s body as she takes in the sight of fiery red hair stooped low as Clary unties her shoelaces, before slipping them off her feet. Her fingers move to her thigh holster, movements slow and tired as she works it open. She raises her head a few moments later, eyes meeting Maia’s for the first time.

“Hey.” Fatigue laces her voice as her lips quirk upwards in a tired smile. Maia finds herself scanning every inch of her lovely face, for cuts, or bruises. For the telltale pull of her left arm that means that her shoulder is giving her pain.

“Why are you still awake?” Clary asks. She turns her attention to the strap holding her dual kindjals to her waist. 

“You’re late.” Maia tries to keep the tightness in her voice at bay, “You didn’t call.”

“The mission took a while.” Clary says, in between the sounds of the kindjals hitting the floor, “I didn’t want you to stay awake, be scared.”

“I _was_ scared, Clary.” Maia blurts out, the words rushing out in a voice she barely recognises as her own, all constricted and heavy with emotion.

Clary’s hair moves with the gentle ferocity of glowing embers as she turns to face Maia.

“I was scared.” Maia repeats, voice considerably softer, “I’ve been scared for a while now. Every time you don’t come home on time, or when you don’t tell me if that hurts, even when I know it does.” She gestures at Clary’s shoulder.

Clary abandons her weapons, and moves closer, eyes burning with something indecipherable, something that tugs at every little thing in Maia’s heart.

“I just can’t – I can’t stomach the fact that one night I’ll wake up to my phone ringing and this voice I don’t know will tell me that you – you…” Maia trails off, voice caught unbearably in her throat as Clary stops right in front of her, so close that Maia could count the long lashes that framed those haunting eyes if she wants to.

Her breath is soft, wisps of warmth playing across Maia’s lips.

“I’m sorry.” Clary whispers hoarsely. She raises her hand to cup Maia’s face gently, the pad of her thumb swiping away tears Maia hadn’t known had fallen, “I’m so sorry. I’m right here.”

Maia swallows hard, raising her own hand to clasp Clary’s wrist. She feels Clary’s pulse against her fingertips, heartbeat strong and sure underneath soft, tender skin. A heartbeat that had almost ceased to exist, on the worst night of Maia’s life.

“I know.” Maia says, voice thick with tears, “I know. I just kept thinking back to that night when –” She tightens her grip on Clary’s wrist, bring her other hand to her waist and pulling her closer.

“Hey.” Clary says gently, “I’m right here.”

She leads them to the sofa, where they sit, limbs tangled together and foreheads pressed close. Maia finds her ground in the rise and fall of Clary’s chest, in the way her breath blooms warm across her collarbones. Clary’s hands hold her face like she’s the most precious thing in the world, her thumb running gently over the curves of her cheekbones. It’s all the little things about her that slowly calm Maia’s breathing.

“I’m sorry. I should have called. I’m sorry.” She murmurs the words softly, continuously, into the space between them where their breaths become one.

Maia raises her head finally to look into the shimmering green of Clary’s eyes. They’re like the forest, beautiful, and alive with a thousand heartbeats.

“I love you.” She whispers, helplessly almost, because she does. She loves this woman so much that sometimes she doesn’t know what to do with it.

Clary presses her lips to hers in a kiss that Maia feels to the tips of her being. She’s here, she’s here, she’s okay, _she’s right here._

“I love you too.” Clary says against her mouth, pressing another kiss to it before pulling back and kissing Maia’s forehead.

They fall asleep on the sofa that night, pressed so close that even the air can’t come between them. Maia wakes up to Clary’s hair tickling her chin, and to her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and the beat of her heart in tandem with hers. She runs her fingers through Clary’s soft hair, and relishes in the blazing warmth of her body against hers. When Clary wakes up, and when the first thing she does is to press a lazy, lingering kiss to the side of Maia’s neck, Maia feels calmer than she’s felt in a long time.


End file.
